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Preps

Bulls no match for Brandon

The Eagles clamp down on Jean Lebrun to beat Bloomingdale 78-51.

By EMILY NIPPS, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 13, 2003

VALRICO -- A couple missed passes and a couple missed shots started Bloomingdale on the wrong foot Wednesday.

Against a team like Brandon, that's not good.

The Eagles (22-5) came out strong and finished stronger, effectively shutting down Bulls leader Jean Lebrun with their defense in a 78-51 win.

"We thought it would be a better match, really," Brandon forward J.J. Turner said. "We didn't think we'd beat them by (27) points. I didn't think we were that good tonight."

Brandon's depth, height and athleticism far outclassed Bloomingdale's, and the neighborhood rivalry became less of a thrill as the game progressed. The first quarter ended with a three-point difference, but the Bulls looked exhausted as they headed to the locker room down 12 at halftime.

"We had a couple of big 3s, and I thought we were back in the game," Lebrun said.

Bloomingdale (11-9) hung with Brandon in the third, matching the Eagles scoring with the help of three 3-pointers from Corey Finch, who finished with six, but the Bulls never caught up. The game slipped away quickly and Brandon coach Mark Hermann was able to put in his reserves. "It was kind of an ugly game," Hermann said. "I think Bloomingdale played really hard and we were kind of going through the motions."

Turner, Omar Garrett and Zaronn Cann each scored 12 points, and Jonathan Banks had 11 for Brandon. Taylor Gangis and Maxzell Mathis each had nine points in a balanced effort.

Finch led the Bulls with 18 while Lebrun had a below-average night with 10. "We keyed on him (Lebrun)," Turner said.

"When he has a good game, everybody on that team has a good game. When he has a bad game, everybody has a bad game. We knew if we shut him down, they wouldn't be able to do much."

Bloomingdale coach Josh Chapin said the Bulls had a hard time adjusting to Brandon's size.

"Every one of them is so long, and their reach is so long," he said. "It's hard to pass over guys that are built that way."

Said Lebrun: "They pretty much showed why they're No. 1 in the county."

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